« Thanks Steve | Main | A Blog "Must Read": Neo-Neocon »

Quickie II: My African American Cousin

I have a cousin who is serving in Afghanistan. I asked him once for a good comparison of what "things are really like in Afghanistan".

He said; " Well, there are places where you are safe and places where you are not welcome but on the whole, Id probably say that Kabul is safer than Johannesburg".

Why Johannesburg? He's from South Africa. Hence, hes my "African American" cousin. When you think of Johannesburg, you dont think of some place thats more dangerous than bagdhad. Is it bigotry when people assume that the arab world is more dangerous than the western world? yeah, it probably is.

Here's a related story I picked up on today.

Quote:

"The murder rate in South Africa, at about 43 murders per 100 000 people, is roughly the same as the death rate from terror attacks on civilians in Iraq.

So despite the government's claims that crime is 'stabilising', South Africans are still living in what amounts to a state of civil war between criminals and law-abiding residents."

So said South African Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon

Jo-berg = Bagdhad? The Boer homeland is the same as the old Islamic caliphate? oh, say it isnt so...

On a somewhat related note, I have friends working in Namibia, Nigeria and Caracas that are all too frequently shot at while flying helicopters and require armed escort and pay protection money while in the cities, because to do otherwise is to invite a crime.

Posted @ August 18, 2005 10:13 AM | Current Affairs